A statistical assessment of the laser energy absorption and keyhole stability in high-power laser welding

The behavior of the molten pool and final weld qualities in high-power laser welding are significantly influenced by laser absorption and keyhole stability. However, the dynamic features involved make the in-depth analyses challenging. This study addresses the challenges by conducting a thorough statistical evaluation of the effects of key welding parameters on laser absorption and keyhole fluctuations, using experimental investigations and a robustly validated multi-physics model. From a statistical aspect, the laser energy distribution and the keyhole collapse, commonly considered to be highly time-varying, show certain regularities, for example, three distinct regions of the temporally averaged energy distribution and a universal normal distribution of the keyhole collapse positions. Further discussion is performed to clarify the greater potential of the statistical data in revealing some well-known, industry-related but unclearly explained findings, such as the saturation of the weld penetration with increasing heat input and the physical basis of the contributions of different welding parameters in the porosity reduction. • A statistical assessment of laser absorption and keyhole stability via experiments and multi-physics modeling is provided. • The highly dynamic laser energy distribution and the keyhole collapse show certain regularities from a statistical aspect. • The statistical data have greater potential to reveal some unclearly explained findings, such as weld penetration saturation.